Four years ago Craig Norris and Brandon Doggett opened a trophy shop out of their shed with the goal of making finals time cheaper on their soccer club.
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On Friday night their business Evolution Trophies walked away with two Goulburn Chamber of Commerce awards including the prestigious People's Choice award.
"We were a couple of blokes just trying to make things cheaper for our soccer club - we got our ABN registered the business and then three weeks later we had three other soccer clubs looking for trophies," Mr Doggett said.
They decided to make a run of it and have been thriving since.
In a curious twist of fate, being the trophy makers for the night meant the duo got to sign off their own silverware, but said they found it challenging to keep the good news secret.
"We thought it was great to be nominated, and a week ago when we found out it was honestly a shock, but we really couldn't divulge anything," Mr Doggett said.
Mr Norris said they had both forgotten to put a nomination in, so to see outside people nominating them was award in itself.
"There was a little bit of a celebration in the shop when the printing came through," Mr Norris said.
"It whacked us out of the blue and it was a bit of a mini celebration, but then we had to keep a lid on it.
"Even when the names are being read out you're sitting there with your head down thinking 'act surprised'," he said with a laugh.
The pair said they were grateful for the nominations and the votes from the community after having no expectation to be nominated, let alone winning two awards on the night.
The duo had clinched the Goulburn's favourite retail shop award once before two years ago, but the pair said that had been a real social media drive playing it off as a David vs Goliath battle between themselves and fellow finalist Harvey Norman.
"It ended up being a very fun battle, it was good banter and Harvey Norman took it in good jest," Mr Norris said.
Mr Doggett said it was also wonderful to see some of the businesses they'd helped promote in the past few years also being nominated.
"It's good to see a lot of our peers getting up, it's about locals shopping locally," he said.
Mr Norris said the duo were closely linked to the sporting world, but they were overwhelmed by the support, saying it was a passion for them to create quality stylish uniforms and gear.
"I think the work we do in the sporting space, we've got a bit of a cult following for lack of a better term, many businesses help in the community, but we really do drill down and back sporting teams, schools and community groups," Mr Norris said.
"Our accountant hates us for it, but we put our money where our mouth is, but it's what we do and it's fun, it's not work, it's been a lot of fun for us.
"One of our biggest achievements is when we see players, teams or businesses travelling and looking a million dollars and knowing we did that."
Mr Doggett said that had been the biggest transition for Evolution was branching out into more uniforms and apparel after COVID-19 essentially put a halt on sporting competitions.
"We were about 60 per cent trophies and only 20 per cent apparel at the time, but people started coming in needing new ways to self promote looking for hoodies, hats or beanies and that really helped us change our business."
The pair said they were proud to be a part of the Goulburn community and were motivated by seeing local stores being able to compete with big city rivals.
"Drop in and see any local business and you will get a competitive price if not a better price than they can do in the city," Mr Doggett said.
"A lot of people look on the internet and think that will be the cheapest, just come in and get a quote because we've been able to embarrass a couple of places just this week alone."
Mr Norris echoed the sentiment.
"Goulburn's got everything you need - you've just got to look - a lot of people instantly dismiss 'you can't get this in Goulburn' - it's there, you've just got to have a look."
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Jacob McMaster
I am passionate about amplifying people's stories and trying to do them justice in the written word. I find pressure washing videos soothing. email me jacob.mcmaster@austcommunitymedia.com.au or 0406 212 845.
I am passionate about amplifying people's stories and trying to do them justice in the written word. I find pressure washing videos soothing. email me jacob.mcmaster@austcommunitymedia.com.au or 0406 212 845.
